''Beast'' is a

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

based in a

veterinary surgery Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on non-human animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/u ...

. Two series of six episodes each were made, with the first broadcast in early 2000 and the second in 2001. Set in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, the sitcom centres around Nick (

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter, singer and farmer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', and is a weekday morning-show presenter on C ...

), a country vet who has a strong dislike of most animals, particarly guinea pigs. Stuck in his dead-end job, he has inherited the ownership of the practise from his father. He also has poor interpersonal skills and these tend alienate people, particularly the young female owners of his patients. Armstrong notes "the only reason he stays being a vet is because he can meet some foxy bird." His receptionist/ manager Kirsten (

Doon Mackichan Sarah Doon Mackichan (; born 7 August 1962) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She co-created, wrote and performed in the double-Emmy awards, Emmy-award-winning ''Smack the Pony''. She frequently collaborates with Armando Iannucci and S ...

) is only person who keeps his sanity at bay, whom is also a close friend and ally. His colleagues and fellow vets include the priggish and haughty Briony (

Sylvestra Le Touzel Sylvestra Le Touzel (born 20 October 1958) is an English actress. Known for her character work in television, radio, film and theatre, she began her career as a child actor before moving into adult roles. She is married to actor Owen Teale, wit ...

), wet and dull Andrew (Steven Alvey) and Jade (

Emma Pierson Emma Jane Pierson (born 30 April 1981) is an English actress. Her appearances in television programmes include the role of Anna Thornton-Wilton in the BBC television drama ''Hotel Babylon (BBC series), Hotel Babylon'', and ''SunTrap'', ''Day ...

), the youngest member of staff, who is known for her eccentricites and odd behaviour. Following the show's cancellation, subsequently in 2006,

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

network planned to produce a US version of the series.

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

award-winning comedy writer and producer

Tucker Cawley Tucker Cawley is an American television comedy writer and producer, best known for writing episodes for ''Everybody Loves Raymond''. He has also written for ''Men of a Certain Age'', '' Parks and Recreation'', '' Up All Night'', and the short-live ...

adapted Nye's script for the pilot episode.

Cast and characters

as Nick, the lead character, a vet and owner of the practice which he inherited from his Father. *

as Kirsten, the practice manager. *

as Briony, the most experienced Vet at the practice. * Steven Alvey as Andrew, the third and final vet at the practice. *

as Jade, a trainee veterinary assistant.

Episodes

Series 1 (2000)

Series 2 (2001)

Home media

The complete series of ''Beast'' was released on region 2 DVD by Network on 17 March 2014.

References

External links

* * *
''Beast TV Live''
2000s British sitcoms 2000 British television series debuts 2001 British television series endings BBC television sitcoms British English-language television shows {{BBC-comedy-tv-prog-stub